Tripple Chronicles 1: Eternity Rising (40 page)

“Um. Yes. I
need you to get a container onboard that Myris shuttle.”

“You’re
kidding me,” Maeve said. “That’s impossible.”

“Then, so is
the weapon,” Lee said and started to walk out.

“Wait,”
Maeve said. “I’ll find a way… I’ll go to the TRU building tonight and come up
with a plan to secure an empty container. Just be ready for my call. You may
have to move quickly and without much warning. I’ll get it on the shuttle
somehow, then you can move the rest of the lab.”

“Are we
finished here?” Lee asked.

“What will
be in the container?” Maeve asked.

“That’s not
your concern,” he replied.

“Fair
enough. I’ll be in touch when I get the timing worked out.”

“Where will
we go?” Dana asked.

“My house.
In the north,” Maeve answered.
                                                                              

Dana
swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat and slumped down in her green
chair after Lee escorted Maeve out of the lab. She was so angry that Lee made
those decisions in spite of her protest, not that they were given much of a
choice. Maeve made a very real argument and she would rather be in exile with
Lee than in the government prison. She wanted to sit and feel sorry for
herself, but instead, picked herself up and started on an inventory of the lab.
Lee would have some tough decisions to make regarding what he would leave
behind.

The next day,
Maeve met with Ganesh to discuss Lee’s request for a shuttle container. Ganesh
thought of all the biomer filled containers sitting down in the atrium, almost
ready for transport to the shuttle station. Maeve would have to get involved
with the transfer. She’d have to drug the driver, empty one of the containers
at her safe house, park on the roof of Tripple Laboratories for Lee to load
whatever it was he wanted on Myris, and then arrive at the shuttle station in
time for the drug to wear off and for her to get out of sight. It was a
complicated, but feasible plan. It would also put a container load of biomer in
her possession for Bearden to work with. The launch date had been set for the
Myris shuttle, only two weeks away, so there wasn’t much time to get the
details straight.

With Cline
in charge of TRU, things were happening fast. He had a way of influencing
decisions made by the heads of government that General Pike had not.

Andreas and
the other designated mission soldiers were preparing for their Myris trip on an
accelerated schedule. They were living at the shuttle station and training when
they weren’t eating or sleeping. Andreas didn’t mind, though. He was excited to
go and it kept his thoughts away from Charisa.

Since Maeve
learned through Ganesh that Mace Magner was facilitating the shuttle mission,
she decided her best bet at gaining access to the transport driver would be
through him. She decided to follow him after work that night to observe his
behavior and then make her move tomorrow. Unfortunately, her reconnaissance led
her to a dirty basement bar a few blocks from the TRU Building, where she
watched Mace pound back drink after drink until he was slobbering all over
himself. After she’d seen as much as she could stand, she went back to her
hotel suite and put together a sleazy outfit for the next night, going over in
her head the role she would have to play. She held up a short red dress to her
body and looked in the mirror. She missed Naja. The only thing that made her
feel good about offering herself to that dirt bag, Mace, was knowing she was
doing it all for him. She only wished Naja could know somehow, but that was
impossible. She threw the dress on the bed and shrugged and thought,
I’ve done worse for less noble reasons.
Then, she picked up her phone and reserved a room for the next night at a
run-down hotel near the bar.

Dana and Lee
had stayed busy since Maeve’s visit a day and half ago. They hadn’t spoken much
to one another because Dana was still upset with Lee and Lee seemed to be
struggling with deciding what to take and what to leave. The lady at the desk
called him early that morning to announce a delivery of several large crates.
The on-call technicians finally had a job to perform since Dana’s arrival,
moving the empty crates into the lab. Dana stayed locked up in Camden’s office
until they were finished, in case any of them became inquisitive. Then, just as
Dana and Lee sat down to eat an awkwardly silent lunch together; they heard the
door to the main lab open. Both of them stopped chewing to listen. Dana slid
her chair back from the table and tiptoed to Camden’s office and grabbed a gun.

“Lee, do you
think we are out of time?” she asked.

“Impossible.
Maeve would have given us warning.”

“I can’t
believe you trust her so completely, Lee.”

“Irrelevant.
Is that thing loaded? I’m completely exhausted from unannounced visitors.”

Dana walked
down the hall to the main lab worried that Lee was expecting to kill whoever
was out there. She considered the gun a bargaining device, nothing more. She
was already living with the weight of one dead man on her conscience, and that
was enough. Lee was directly behind her with a syringe in his hand. Dana didn’t
know where he had gotten it so quickly.
He
must keep it in his pocket,
she thought.

Dana found
herself aiming her gun at a tall, handsome, distinguished looking man who she
recognized instantly.

“Cam?” Lee
mumbled. “Is it safe for you to be here?”

Dana lowered
her gun and her cheeks turned pink. This was not the way she had pictured
meeting Professor Riles.

“Lee!”
Camden smiled. “It’s been too long. I can’t believe how much I’ve missed this
place. You must be Miss Hanks,” he said, looking at Dana and stretching his
hand out for her to shake.

“Yes. It’s
very nice to meet you, Professor Riles. I apologize that the lab is in such
disarray…and for the gun.”

Camden threw
his head back and laughed. He put his arm around Lee’s shoulder,
who
flinched and then scowled. They walked back to the
kitchen area where Lee and Dana’s lunches remained uneaten at the table.

“Lee, you’re
right,” Camden started. “It’s probably not a good idea that I’m here. But I
couldn’t resist, it is your birthday, after all.”

“What?” Dana
said a little louder than she intended. “Your birthday, and I didn’t
know…unbelievable.” She shook her head and took a too big bite out of her
sandwich.

“Interesting,”
Camden said, looking at her. “Anyway, I’ve come to invite you to a dinner in
your honor tonight at the club. Bring your tech assistants, there will be
press.”

“You’ve made
my life a disaster, Cam!” Lee said. “I don’t have time for dinner because I
have to move out of the building and go into hiding. This is the result of your
actions.”

“Oh no!
Don’t blame me for this. I was caught up in this mess just as innocently as you
were, friend. At least you’ve been able to maintain some semblance of your
life. I’ve been in military hell!”

“And that’s
just where you deserved to be,” Lee said. They were both silent for a moment
then Camden continued.

“You’re moving?
Really? Where?”

“I don’t
know exactly. Somewhere in the north…by the water.”

“Well, I’ll
be sure to update my address book.” Camden teased. “Are you going with him?”

The question
was directed at Dana.

“Of course
I’m going,” she said.

“Right, it’s
either hide out with Lee or go to prison for murder.”

“Yes, ‘Uncle
Camden’, those would appear to be my choices.” Dana had joined Lee in being
angry at Camden.

“That was a
brave thing you did, young lady. Impersonating my niece to get that bag from
Ari,” Camden said. “Well, Lee, Dana, I must go, but I hope to see you both
tonight at the club, 7:00.”

“You won’t
see me,” Dana said. “It’s too dangerous, especially if there will be press.”

“And here I
thought you were a master of disguise, Miss Hanks. You’re going far away from
here very soon. Live a little.” Camden smiled and left the two of them pouting
in their soup.

“Do you
really think I could get away with a disguise?” Dana asked Lee later.

“It doesn’t
matter, we have to pack,” Lee said.

“True, but
this may be the last time you will get to go to the club with Camden for a very
long time. I know you are angry, but do you really want to miss this
opportunity to say goodbye to your friend?”

Lee stared
at his shoes for a minute then said, “Be ready at 6:45.” and went into Lab A,
the one that Dana had never seen the inside of. She smiled and went back to
separating lab supplies into boxes.

That night,
Dana arrived at the club with the lady at the desk. They met in the lobby with
two of Lee’s lab technicians, and Miranda, the lab coordinator who Dana met on
her first day. There were photographers snapping pictures and the lady at the
desk positioned herself in front of Dana, so her face would not be captured. It
was unlikely she’d be recognized. She was dressed as a boy and pretending to be
lady at the desk’s son. She introduced herself as ‘Dan’. And with her hair
chopped short, once again courtesy of Lee, and no makeup, Dana looked the part
of a young teen. They didn’t linger in the lobby and Dana was first inside the
elevator when it arrived.

In the club,
Lee and Camden were already sitting together at their usual table and sipping
on tea and scotch respectively. Dana sat down right next to Lee so comfortably
that it caused Camden to raise an eyebrow. The others sat a separate table that
had been moved next to them. Conversation was casual and there wasn’t even a
hint of animosity between Lee and Camden in this semi-public setting. The
technicians looked nervous and uncomfortable to be at Lee Tripple’s birthday
dinner, but the lady at the desk and Miranda kept the conversation going.

About an
hour later, Ganesh arrived and took a seat next to Camden. He introduced
himself to the young boy next to Lee, but after looking hard at him, chuckled
to himself, realizing that this was Dana Hanks across from him.

“Hmph.
Aren’t you a clever young…man,” he said with a grin.

“My idea,”
Camden leaned in and whispered.

“Your
freedom has made you a little too bold, Cam,” Ganesh replied.

Enira served
them an exceptional five course meal and Dana, who barely got to eat what she
wanted in the lab, completed her disguise by shoveling the delicious meal in
her mouth with as much grace and manner that a growing teenage boy might. As
the night went on, Lee and Camden started discussing Camden’s space travel
project and Ganesh interjected his thoughts now and then. Lee seemed to forget
that he was angry
with
Camden at all. That, or else
his one-track mind
was
too occupied with science to
have room for feelings at the moment. Dana was enthralled with them both and
began to understand the dynamic between them. It was so effortless for them to
communicate and they inspired each other, provoking new ideas and elevating
each other’s brainpower. She must have been a really poor substitution in the
lab for Professor Riles. He was so witty and charming, though she doubted those
were the same qualities Lee appreciated about him.

It was
getting late and Ganesh excused himself with the other dinner guests, who felt
as though they had overstayed their welcome. But before they left, Enira
brought in one of the photographers from downstairs to photograph the
group…Ganesh’s idea. It would make a good distracting headline since rumors of
armed conflict at the border were starting to spread. Dana conveniently had to
use the bathroom right before the picture.

When she
returned, she found herself alone with Lee. Searching the room with her eyes,
Dana noticed Camden in a dark corner with Enira. They weren’t being very
discreet with their affair; however, the club was empty now aside from Lee,
Dana, and a bartender.

“I didn’t
know Camden was involved with a woman,” she said as she sat back down.

“Neither did
I,” Lee said grumpily.

“You’re not
happy for him?”

“No,” Lee
replied, not sure why he was so angered at the display of affection between
newly widowed Enira and Camden. When Lee looked away from Dana to stare at the
wall, she took it as her cue to change the subject.

“I’ve been
thinking, Lee,” she said, “that this re-animation project has failed to utilize
its greatest power.”

“How so?”
Lee asked, interested in the conversation again.

“Well, so
far, we’ve used cells from cadavers. But what if we altered
your
cells to respond to mixture 266?
What if we cloned you with memory download while you are still alive? You could
continue your work indefinitely…evolve…”

“I would be
my own father, and it would be disconcerting.”

“So, you
have already thought of this.”

“Of course I
have, I just don’t know if there is room in my lab for two of me.”

“Well, you
won’t have a lab in another week. So, that doesn’t matter.”

“That’s a
very poor argument.”

“Well then,
don’t you think you owe it to yourself to do it? Imagine your brain without the
limitations of a single lifespan…what you could do.”

“I’m sending
the embryos in stasis, along with Ari’s clone to Myris on the shuttle,” Lee
said.

“What? Why?”
Dana asked.

“Because I
can’t have babies running around my space…that’s why…doesn’t matter if they are
me or not! Do you see?”

“Lee?” Dana
asked. “Are you planning on being part of the Myris colonization?”

“I’ve always
been part of it. It was my idea. I seeded a small region years ago, in an area
that is hidden from telescopic view ninety percent of the year. Hopefully by
now there is a small food supply. I have a shuttle pass available to me the
minute I am ready.”

“Lee, I had
no idea. Are you planning to go?”

“I hadn’t
given it a thought in a long time. I’m losing my lab. That changes things.”

Dana took a
deep breath, and then with a trembling voice said, “I’ll go if you go. I mean,
what better place for a fugitive than off of this planet, huh?”

Lee gave her
a strange look, like he hadn’t even considered she might not go with him when
the time came.

“That was
always the plan. When you were hired, you said you’d do whatever was needed.
And, you said you’d be willing to travel.”

“True. I
just never imagined you meant off of the planet. But, I’ll go with you, Lee,”
she said again, “but only if you clone yourself. I’m young, and likely to live
a lot longer than you. I’m not going to navigate Myris alone. I’ll need you
there, even if that means a younger version of you.”

Lee mumbled
something under his breath just as Camden returned to the table with a bottle
of some very fine bubbly wine.

“To
celebrate your birth, Lee Tripple,” he said and passed them each a glass, “Oh,
and there is a present waiting for you at your lab. Courtesy of me and the
loony bin.”

Lee perked
up, wondering what it was.

“Do you
remember our recent conversation about an altered cognition of time? And the
potential phenomena coming from the ability to access parts of the brain that
are normally unavailable to our conscious thoughts?”

“Yes, of
course. I’ve noted some hypotheses. I’d like to test them at a time when it is
conceivable for me to do so,” Lee replied.

“Well, that
time may be sooner than you think, Lee.” Camden raised his glass and so did
Dana out of politeness. “The body of Rhys Krell, perfectly preserved, is in
your surgical area. I had it delivered, courtesy of Miss Maeve Daire. I believe
you know her.”

“Rhys Krell?
That engineer who went mad?” He’s dead?” Lee asked.

“What are
you talking about?” Dana asked them both, feeling out of the loop.

Camden drank
a gulp of wine and explained his brief relationship with Rhys and told them
what really happened the night General Pike died. Lee seemed to absorb the
information with detached interest and Dana thought about Bear, and how he had
contributed to so much death with his biomer discoveries. She hated him even
more…when she wasn’t missing him. After Camden finished talking Lee looked
anxious to leave, no doubt to return to the lab and unwrap his gift. Camden
recognized his haste and added, “It is packed for transport to your new place,
wherever that is.”

“I’ll tell
you where I am when the time is right, Cam.”

“I’ve got to
say, Dana, I am a bit surprised you are going with him,” Camden said.

“I don’t
know why. I’m his assistant. He needs me…and I need him,” she said. Lee froze
at her words, looking a little embarrassed by them. Camden threw his head back
and laughed.

“How
surprising you have become, Lee. And you’re right, Dana…I mean Dan…he does need
you,” Camden said. Lee pushed his wine away from him and motioned to Enira for
another cup of tea.

On the other
side of town, Maeve Daire was sitting at a dingy bar and laughing at Mace
Magner’s disgusting jokes. He was easily attracted to her and she was playing
her seduction scene well. Mace didn’t suspect her to be anything other than a
low-level businesswoman in town for a convention, looking to have a good time.
In truth, he disgusted her, but his crude attempts at humor were actually a
refreshing change from their conversation three drinks ago. He had been going
on and on about General Pike dying and how it was his fault. She listened and
sympathized, but only because it was part of her job tonight.